The old master painters often fixated on the same scene. Monet and his water lillies, a bridge over the water- started as sketches of the same scene that became multiple versions of a masterpiece. What purpose comes from repeating the same image or idea?
I have always had a vague inspiration that turned into a finished painting and then I was on to the next piece. I have recently learned how much progress comes from studying the same scene.
Study 4- Light on the Lake- Artbygordon 2025
Define What the Viewer Needs to See:
What inspired you to start the painting in the first place? Asking this question will often dictate how your technique and process will show the viewer what you want them to see.
I have watched the sun burn out the sky and the lake in the same location on many occassions. I have often thought how can light be created when there is only paper, canvas and paint. I don’t want the viewer to see a pastel with light that is flat or clearly created with a bright hue. I want the light to be its own entity that is beyond simply texture or paint.
My first attempts were using complementery colors to make the background pop. It was a mild success but I still wanted to see the light separate from the 2 dimensional field. In a pastel, it is not easy to keep the whitest white pristine.
Light on the water-Study 1 Artbygordon 2025
The Image will Teach the Artist as the Artist Learns the Image:
There is a reason a light appears as it does to the eye. There is a cause and effect of different textures and colors showing themselves in a certain way to the viewer.
This is the magic of art, to show a 3 dimensional image on a 2 dimensional plane, the artist needs to be a bit of a magician. This takes not only learning how light reaches the eye but also the interaction of the scene.
To know how and why things appear in a subject, you must truly learn and understand your subject. Sketching and resketching not only allows the wisdom of truly seeing but also to know how your subject is seen on any given hour or light condition.
This process of studying and rehashing the same concept will also help the creative in writing about a subject, photographing and truly seeing what is real versus what the conscious mind needs to explain in shorthand.
A camera is looking to describe a scene in a basic gray, the photographer needs to show the camera how to adjust its eye to capture what makes the scene feel and appear expansive and beautiful even when reduced to a 2D plane of a photograph.
July 18- I am opening my virtual dog park- lots of ideas and products to come
This is a link to my TIkTok Page-there you can get involved and submit your pet to be included in the dog park
A virtual dog park- First there will be sketches of dogs that will introduce new pets to the virtual realm, next there will be sales of portraits and connection to a pet shop online that will sell independent art from craftsman specializing in pet chains, collars, etc.
This is really an experiment in online marketing. The idea is building a place for pets to share their pets and a place where other videos can connect. I am planning a dog park which will turn into a zoo, then maybe a pet community. Even have thought of a dating site that meets at local dog parks.
I entered Gallerium-Aquarium art exhibit-I am in the book I’m happy to announce.
We walk around the room, Chairs in a line to familiar tunes much like duck, duck, Goose
Until there’s one that’s missing and we all seek a space, all lose time and grace barely remember the name nor face
Musical Chairs, A sour game we children play a preminition of another day when one of us will fade, into the darkness as another loses their place
We go back to musical chairs clear the tables and dry the tears a game that children play never realizing how real, profound that coming day
when we are forced to play musical chairs how the tunes sour, how the colors are black and hollow sickening scent of mums, the dying flower
Lament for a Missing Chair at the Table
I write this after the untimely death of my ex-wife. She was my soulmate in every sense of the word. There are too many details to explain and at this point, it’s pointless to describe our separation. We had a love that others would envy. 19 years ago we divorced and today she’s gone.
This poems came so naturally as the concept of playing musical chairs until we lose one. We all walk in circles, not paying attention to the people around us until there is a missing chair and then for a brief moment of chaos, we all clamor for chairs.
I understand why we do it, humans can not live in a constant state of waiting for the last moment. Do not be weary of death like a spectre at the door. Numbness is how the body protects itself from this constant harm. Notice every empty chair and cling to every shadow; to be so fearful of death to have never truly lived.
In the end, we all play musical chairs. Instead of choosing fear, walk a little slower, look a little deeper at friendships and loved ones. Connect, accept and realize the movie we live is much like playing musical chairs. Enjoy the game, laugh, love and be patient – we will all take our turn.
My son fell in love with Talladega and has been talking about Nascar a lot lately. This past Sunday, he got me tickets and I was able to enjoy the whole spectacle that is Nascar!
First, the best thing I can say about it is the feeling of community. You have a lot of people just hanging with a common goal to watch and experience Nascar. Families with kids of all ages, tents, grills and flags to support their favorite racer gather in a big field of cars and trucks for the first few hours.
We were treated to eggs and sausage tortillas and hamburgers by extremely gracious hosts-my son has amazing friends. Beer was drank, water kept us hydrated and the smell of sunscreen was all around.
To sit with nothing to do but relax and wait, it seems many of us don’t know how to do this anymore. It reminds me of going to my son’s football practices, to spend time with no expectation and nothing pressing is a rare treat these day.
Next, a long walk to the stadium. It was a cool breezy day so it was perfect. Be sure to bring your own ear protection, I will explain this later. As we get into the stadium area which is huge, there are the vendors for the teams with all kinds of merchandise and things to eat. It was like going to the fair-including the corndogs and nachos.
Inside, we were lucky to be under an awning as the sun would have baked us if we were any closer. The sound and thunder of the cars is just incredible-wear your ear protection now-with or without the radio to hear the race, my son let me hear what his driver was listening to which was very interesting.
Through the whole race, I was given information on what they do, why they do it and what to expect next. If the race gets a little quiet, expect there is probably a crash and a caution. I got to learn about what a pace car is and how they warm up for races.
My son and his friends filled in all the information I would never have known, go with someone who is knowledgable. There is quite a science to the whole process and to listen to the people passionate about their particular racer was very exciting.
Unlike other competitive games, no one is the adversary, everyone is just excited about their favorite doing well-there was only one racer that was applauded when they crashed-Nascar fans know who that racer was-I don’t.
267 laps of ridiculous speed, a big hot dog with all the trimmings and nachos-and lots of Busch Beer; a wonderful day at the races. The people watching is amazing, the feeling of being with friends and family and the power and presence of the cars speeding around the track-it was truly a wonderful experience.
After, the herd walks to the cars, we ended up waiting for thirty minutes, eating what was left of the grilled hamburgers and all I can say is I will be back. It was a special day and an amazing way to spend a Sunday: with my people.
Investigating the Pastel, Oils and Soft comparisons
stevengordonlinebaugh
12 Apr, 2025
I’m starting a series of comparing brands of pastel by price, quality, etc. I have been using Rembrandt, Mungyo Gallery and Grumbacher Pastels for many years. Only recently I’ve begun to compare the more expensive brands to the least expensive. Tools we use make our ability to create faster and more effective, often you get what you pay for as they say but I wanted to see the difference price makes in pastels.
Oil Pastels
First – oil pastels. I started using Grumbacher from a very young age. I was given a set for Christmas and I can remember the excitement opening each present with all the tools that would develop my future style and spark my inspiration.
This is an update from a previous image-Rembrandt Pastels on blue art paper.
The wonderful thing about oil pastels is you can use them much like oil paint. Recently, I’ve used them to bring out certain details in my oil paintings. As I learn more about the difference in a quality oil pastel and a lesser quality is the brilliance of color, I would guess the permanence and ease of technique in blending is another aspect I will explore.
I like how oils will bring out movement and shadows in a pastel without simply softening the image like a soft pastel-there is a movement much like using Adobe Photoshop’s Motion blur technique.
So the first oil pastel I will highlight is where I started-Grumbacher, the permanence is great, the flow and brilliance of color is exceptional. I have enjoyed years of their performance and still have pastel paintings that look great even 40 years since they were created-that’s saying something about their quality.
Let’s Go Shopping for Art Supplies
Just went to Jerry’s Artarama on Preston Road in Dallas and I was in my glory as were the other artists I meet. I’m loving the variety of brands they have and they seem reasonably priced. I also bought a box of Mungyo Gallery soft pastels and some boards-Davinci Pro Panels, I am excited to start experimenting with different papers, boards and textures.
Last night I started a soft pastel image of water and a spring scene. I am excited that the Artist Loft pastels I bought at Michaels did very well. On the less expensive scale, a little bit messy as they are in sticks with no paper but the brilliance and ease of use was wonderful. I loved the texture I was able to achieve on a blue medium textured board, also from Michaels.
Here is the first image, it is a work in progress but I like how the pastels were soft and adhered well to the texture of the matte board.
To see the most recent original pastels and to get on the mailing list- check out artbygordon.com
More pastels are in the works and I will review the Davinci Boards as well. Please stay tuned.
I have been very active connecting with local art groups, this post is about 2024 art happenings and building momentum. I have rejoined Dallas Business Council as SMU is a member. I have gone to one of their shows on painting dogs and the people were wonderful and very helpful.
I have joined Cafe and Biafarin and have started creating images specifically for challenges. Not sure if this is something for a long term idea but it was fun working off immediate inspiration versus a painting that forms over many months or even years.
The first show I won a place in the Gallerium Exhibition Fight Cancer 2024 It is available on Artsy.net.
I competed in the Paint Rowlett Contest again this year. My image called laughing gulls won third place in the black only category and a it was purchased by a local art lover.
Laughing gulls-sold
I just sold two prints of Beavers Bend- a very old painting but one of my favorites. It is available at Fine Art America
2024 Art Happenings : Works in progress – I have two recent collections of pastel- my most recent is capturing light and the previous was about multiple subject matter. I have done a lot of pastel on black paper and am in the process of getting heavily back into oil painting. Stay Tuned
How crafting beautiful words changes over time and what is the essence of beauty. There are several ways that words inspire a writer. Distant events allow us the privilege of feeling with a calmness. The writer can be more philosophical and detached versus an immediate event.
Writing about the past tends to be figurative. A writer replaces the uncomfortable with metaphor, describing events with the voice of a teacher versus a student. In each aspect we are all teachers, all students-the words we gather to leave others give perspective on our past.
Returning to a childhood home
I am still familiar with my childhood home. The roof is a little gray and thinner, the wood is “just fine” but the foundation is in varying degrees of sway. I’ve been away for a long time.
I remember it like yesterday, every dark corner and crooked beam were parts of my childhood. I can rem ember as it shrunk in the distance, as we drove to the local 711. Everything I knew changed on that gray November day.
5/5/22
Writing in the Present:
An immediate event often allows us more details to explain. The raw feeling is close enough that we can describe it accurately. We can still use metaphor and color it with abstract description but the feeling is closer to the surface.
It is the open wound, our ability to leave ourselves for a moment and write with the angst and feeling of a spectator experiencing trauma or joy is how we make feelings universal versus our own.
I learned from a mentor and muse about writing words that will touch others instead of writing a journal or diary. Most readers don’t want to be the detached spectator. They want to feel the emotion, the pain, the joy, all the aspects that make writing reach others.
They inject a bit of their own experience into the piece and in essence become a part of the writer’s vision. It is much like the safety of enjoying a haunted house attraction-the viewer gets to engage their fear without the cost and actual feeling of being in harms way.
I think writing creates that same space-close enough to feel without the ramifications of it being reality. Of course, the feeling of joy or beauty is something we all tend to seek, so being able to bring that to a reader who might be overwhelmed by their own life is another vehicle for the written word.
August and everything dies. Heat pressing down on us like a vice. All projects that began in spring with the sincerest of care Seem to shrivel from neglect.
The garden seeks its end but I missed all the flowers there. All I have is wasted funds and neglect from the sincerest of care
This aspect of writing is just the feeling of language. The writer can experiment, test boundaries of rhyme, word use, metaphor and even language. There is less feeling in this type of writing but the excitement of the writer should explain itself.
I have enjoyed moments where I can write about something I’ve never experienced, testing what ifs and playing roles you might not ever have imagined or experienced. This type of writing goes for poetry and prose and the results are often very surprising.
Telling One’s Story:
Truth is stranger than….well you get the cliche but much about cliches are true. To tell one’s story as a spectator in their own life, to be able to remove themselves from the feeling of being vulnerable for what they say and speak honestly despite the risk.
There is a great risk in telling the story of one’s own life-it can be boring to the reader, overblown or just unbelievable. The poetry I have written over the years is a journal of sorts, an absolute memoir of living as a poet and creative person.
I have begun documenting the experience of being creative in blogs in the last 6 years or so. I have a story I am writing which allows a fictional account of being a writer, with growing up in this amazing, creative landscape filled with feelings, metaphor and imagined adventures: it’s called A Life of Words.
A Life of Words
As a creative child, he always feared the creatures under the bed. He was only ten and the dark shadowed divide between the edge of his bed and the shear line where the light from the window slipped beneath the mattress; this was his nightmare.
Depending on what television show he had seen or what creative excursion he took on any given day, the fears were always different but that place was always the same. That place where you avert your eyes and ignore the presence of that which crawls under the bed and waits patiently for your eyes to close.
This particular evening was different, there was no line, no dividing band of shadow-the rain outside, the crash of lightning and the pale haze of street lights created a dreamlike state where the poised creatures that waited were able to roam, this night they wouldn’t even be waiting for his eyes to close.
He could hear the movements beneath him, the shifting of the feet, the crunching of dried paint along the wall. The more he tried to ignore it the louder and more obvious the noise became. With every shadow across the room and with every shaft of light that crept through the curtains-another specter appeared, another shapeless faceless form threatened his waking moments.
To find out where the story goes-subscribe to my newsletter
So many thoughts and ideas have made it to the written page-they come from such a diverse landscape. The excitement I have for writing is that it comes from so many experiences both past, present and future, from near and far.
To writers-Where do you find your inspiration to write? To Readers-What moves you in a piece that you read? Is it the description? Feelings? or Nostalgia that draws you to a piece of writing or art?
How Words Develop is the second in a series: To check out the previous article Going Where the Words Lead.
Where do ideas come from, how words develop. I have several options when it comes to writing and each technique delivers different results. This post is about how words come, develop from ideas and teach us about the world. In the end there is a list of techniques to get past writer’s block.
Spontaneous free flow over time:
This is the way I have written since I was very young. You have ideas and over a period of time, often with stress and emotional hurt, suddenly they appear. I often write up to fifteen or so poems and they can happen over an afternoon or a weekend.
I have no consciousness of the actual words and the rhymes. If I have to think of any correct word or rhyming I’m not in the state I need to be. The beauty of stream of conscious is that colors, shapes and images develop naturally. Strange comparisons, metaphor, emotional depth and even nonsense: otit’s the same method in which we dream. In the past, a title of the work would come first and the words would follow. I’ve even used Writing the Natural Way, using webs of words until the ideas form. Currently I use fewer techniques to develop words and just need to be patient when they come.
I try not to write notes of ideas because often they lose the original fresh and spontaneousness, I wait for the words to go where they need and I am just a vessel to allow them to flow.
Listening to Music While Writing:
This is a very interesting technique as it forces the logical brain to detach from the writing brain. As one side of the brain is listening to music, the other is writing. The words are often very quick to come but often conscious thought interrupts the process.
There are many different types of music that Will evoke a response. Adding the television into the equation is also a great way to distract the process of writing. As with the previous technique I could barely remember the words I’ve written or explain what I was thinking, it is so far removed from writing consciously.
The reason we write is to Understand. Much of our everyday moments evoke questions, lessons and emotions. We are often unable to completely comprehend all the stimulus that affects us. This is where writing comes in, everything is analyzed and we learn more about ourselves and much more about our humanity and living in a world full of chaos.
Spontaneous from Imagery:
A recent technique I’ve been doing is taking a photograph and coming up with words, it is very quick and to the point. I don’t think of the meaning or a reason, I just come up with a photograph I have taken and then create the first words that come to mind.
It is a very different feeling than the two previous techniques. The wonderful aspect is even when I’m not in the mood to write or anxious to write it brings out words that write themselves. They are usually very short, to the point and tell a story of why I thought the photograph was worth taking.
For more Words and Pix- check out my website-Words and Pix
A Long History of Words:
I’ve been writing for many years, from the first poem, A Winter Scene, to songs, stories and even a self-help book in the works. I have always chased after words. It can be quite frustrating when the words don’t come and I have had long bouts with writer’s block.
Here are ten ideas to fight against writer’s block and these techniques have created four steel boxes full of writings and short stories in the works.
How words develop- even through Writer’s Block
Treat Writer’s Block like a necessary interlude. You are writing the words, they have just not become ripened fruits yet. Be patient, allow them to take you where ever they go and however they make themselves known.
Always be willing to put down a piece if you just haven’t reached a skill level or you just aren’t feeling it on that day.
Realize you will be able to write again and be calm and relaxed with the future possibility.
Distract your mind with music, activity, nature, etc.
Keep writing even if you don’t feel like you are improving or you don’t like the results. Writing is a muscle that needs to be worked, your voice will follow.
Don’t bog yourself down with perfection in the initial draft, just write, enjoy it, feel free and unhampered, that’s what editors are for.
Don’t be too critical, be open, be available for whatever comes.
Enjoy the art of writing, make lots of lists, collect things that remind you of words, ideas, thoughts and aspects of creativity.
Spend some time alone, be silent, listen to nature and yourself-when the two unite words are often a natural product.
For more poetry check out poetry collections on Artbygordon.com
Where the words lead – I am not a censor of my words, if a poem or story shows itself, I do not question it, I just go with it. In the writing sphere I am more of a tourist than a guide. Words take me where they need to go and there are frightening, sublime, beautiful and enlightening places they take me.
This post explains the words of this image. I forgot how much I love sunrises. Each one is unique in its own right-it had been a long time since I had photographed a sunrise. This particular sunrise was October 4, 2023-just a day before major heart surgery.
Agressive Happiness
The concept of Aggressive HappinessSM is something I have talked a lot about. This particular sunrise had everything to do with the idea, sometimes in the darkest moments, the sunrise still rises, beauty still exists, it is our calling to always seek it.
This image is of a sunrise in a water cup. I felt like it had interesting shapes and and angles and it was as beautiful as I could see being where I was, undergoing what was about to come.
There were some interesting aspects of being in the hospital six days before surgery. I experienced hospital psychosis-I was so glad when someone explained to me that it was a normal aspect of a hospital stay.
Hospital Psychosis
I was hallucinating, images were flashing from the TV to the window, almost like a twisted film that was constantly playing around me overlaying my vision. I felt haunted by people, the dog, etc. things that were not there. If no one explains it to you, you would think you were losing your mind.
I came out of that state, at this time of year. I felt the cool breeze outside, I realized the sunrises and sunsets, I found joy in the darkest moments, this is where we conquer fear, even if for a few days. Peace is an intangible reward we find when we choose to find beauty, sometimes a little faith allows us to feel such joy but it is ours when we need it.
February 2023 I woke to the next year It insisted, I not be afraid It was still there No measurement required of time It is a fable – control. As man pines for moments and hours To contain, the sun rose just as it did the year before nothing less nor more.
We are as constant as tides only measurement and control nature denies.
Where the words lead – Conclusion
I am a tourist of sorts. This life; you can watch it like a movie, read it like a book. Be the director when it is time to direct, be the student when it is time to learn, the spectator when it is time to just sit back and enjoy the show-knowing the timing and how we create words and creative endeavors-it takes wisdom, silence and introspection. I will always go where ever the words and pictures decide.
A celebration of sunflowers; one of my favorite flowers is the sunflower. They grow despite the unworked soil, in fact the seeds stop others from growing in the same place.
They are harbingers of spring, waving in the early breezes at the the front of a cornfield and their tall thick stems have tiny hairs and wildlife use them as a sort of highway.
A sugary sweet smell and a great host of birds and butterflies; they quickly become a forest of their own.
What strikes me most is how they catch the light. How every bloom has its unique work of art of all different sizes and textures. I have created many paintings, pastels and photographs of the sunflower and I am always amazed at its presence in the garden.
Dinner plate-sized flowers eventually fall back to the earth and they begin again. The flowers I’m sharing are all self sowed-they are just the leftovers from birds-the ultimate gardeners after all.
An introduction to a series of plants picked specifically for the Texas garden. These are all plants you don’t have to mess with-they grow despite us, the thrive on neglect, they truly sparkle in the garden. The next subject is the morning glory of which I am growing much like a work of art in the garden.
